After All These Years
by OrangeWithAfro
Summary: After all these years, I have finally found you. Maybe now, I'll be able to find comfort in the shadows again. Idk. That'll be my summary until a better one comes up.
1. Chapter 1

She silently waited for her tears to dry.

Ever since her mom died, her days were lonely and cold. Her father wanted nothing to do with her. Of course the maids were nice but they had to do their job and couldn't be with her most of the time.

She silently waited for everything to turn dark.

Why?

Because he would always come and stay with her when it was dark.

A shadow moves in the far corner of the room and it creeps into the bed with her.

"Hey," the shadow says.

"You're here," the child giggles.

"Of course. I told you, didn't I?"

"Right. But why won't you tell me who you are? It's also too dark to see your face."

"Because, it's a secret."

"Do you know who I am?"

"Yes."

"Aww. No fair." The child pouted and the shadow chuckled. They would continue talking the whole night with the child drifting on and off. The child knows that the shadow will keep her safe.

Every time when the darkness comes, he would always be there and the lonely feeling disappears until he has to leave again.

Until one night, he didn't come. The morning after that night was a picture of a little boy with black hair and red eyes. The child can only assume that this was the shadow.

* * *

10 years later...

"Today you should expect a new member in Sabertooth," Master Jiemma boomed and went back to wherever the hell he was before. Murmurs started going around in the guild.

"Oi Rogue, what do you think the new member is going to be like?" Sting asked.

"Not interested," Rogue answered.

"They got to be strong since they're joining Sabertooth!"Lector piped up.

"Fro thinks so too!"

"Haha, that's got to be right!" Sting laughed.

Later that day, the doors opened and there stood a cloaked figure with their face covered.

"You must be the new member. Master is upstairs," Minerva guided.

"Thank you," the person softly spoke and headed up the stairs. When they came down, they had the mark on their hand. They took a seat at the bar.

"You're the new member. What would you like?" the barmaid greeted.

"A strawberry smoothie," they answered softly.

"Coming right up." When her smoothie came, she was approached by Sting and Lector.

"Hey, hey, why don't you take off that cloak?" Sting questioned. They merely shook their head.

"Not much of a talker, are you?" Ignored.

"OI!" Sting was getting irritated now and threw a punch and it landed on the new member and they fell to the ground. The hood of their cloak dropped and it revealed blonde hair and brown eyes.

"Hey isn't that..."

"Lucy Heartfilia joined us?"

"She's the daughter of Jude and Layla!"

"I heard her mother died."

"There are rumors that her family are going to be bankrupt."

"I wonder what type of magic she uses."

She pulled her hood up, paid for her drink, and scurried out of the guild before any more questions were asked. Rogue eyed her as she left the guild. It was her. He never thought that they would meet again after all these years.

* * *

Lucy Heartfilia sat under a tree at the park after leaving the building for a while. She sighed. Her thoughts go back to several weeks ago when her father had talked to her about joining Sabertooth because it was one of the strongest guilds.

_She walked in his office._

_"Father, you called?"_

_"Yes. I want to talk to you about joining Sabertooth. I have already made the arrangements for your entrance so all you have to do is go and get your mark," her father explained._

_"What is the purpose of joining Sabertooth?" Lucy asked._

_"I have also made arrangements for your marriage. You see, your fiance is a magic user and his parents would also like the bride to be a magic user. Since Sabertooth is one of the strongest guilds and I have heard about their discipline, it is a good environment for you to strengthen your magic po-"_

_"Marriage! I don't even know what he looks like and you expect me to marry them!" Lucy protested._

_"The marriage with that family will benefit the com-"_

_"But Fath-!"_

_"NO BUTS. YOU WILL DO AS I SAY AS THE DAUGHTER OF THE HEARTFILIA KOZERN!"_

_Lucy flinched as his shout and her father held his gaze with her for a while before calmly continuing._

_"You know magic yes?"_

_"Y-yes. Mama taught me," she choked at the end of the sentence._

_"Very well. You leave in a few weeks."_

_"Yes father," she silently left the room._

* * *

She sighed again and looked up at the cloudless sky. She stuck her hand in one of her pockets and pulled out the picture of the boy with black hair and red eyes. Ever since he left, the lonely feeling just increased day by day. The boy didn't even give her his name. There was a boy that also had black hair and red eyes back at the guild but she had doubted that he was the same boy. Heck, he might not even remember her. She got up and went to the apartment complex she had rented earlier that day. Along the way, she pulled the Key of the Canis Minor and called out Plue. Her mother taught her Celestial Magic before she died and Lucy inherited her keys. She also gets some new ones from time to time. She got Plue on her way to this town. She picked up Plue and carried him on her walk home.

* * *

**Is it good? Is it bad? Should I continue it? **


	2. Chapter 2

**What took me long...Uhh...Writers block? Hehehehehe**

A week has past and the guild members have grown accustomed to Lucy Heartfilia. Where is she right now? Well, she is in front of the request board looking for a job since she has already settled down. Back at the mansion, in return for going to Sabertooth, she declined anything more than 100,000 jewels and any sort of maids, chefs, and body guards. Until, she has to leave for the marriage, she has a sort of free life here in Sabertooth.

"Choosin' a mission already, Heartfilia?" Sting came up next to her.

"This one here seems interesting but I don't know if I'm strong enough," Lucy pointed at a request to take down some Vulcans.

"Huh? You've got to be strong right? You joined Sabertooth!" Sting said with confidence and did a pose.

"I was forced here," she mumbled. Sting raised an eyebrow at her. "My father wanted me in this guild. He probably paid Jiemma or something."

"Don't talk like that! How strong are you really?" Sting wouldn't believe it. Only the strongest joined Sabertooth. That's how they are Fiore's #1. No weaklings are allowed to join.

"I'M NOT STRONG. I DON'T USE MAGIC EVERY SINGLE DAY LIKE YOU NORMAL MAGES. I'M STUCK UP IN A MANSION FORCED TO DO EVERY SINGLE THING MY FATHER WANTS ME TO DO AND HE DOESN'T LIKE MAGIC! GOT IT?" She screeched, grabbed the request and ran out after getting it approved.

'Seems like nothings changed' Rogue thought.

* * *

Lucy hastily walked to her apartment to leave for the mission as soon as possible. She needed some time alone. She needed to get away from everything. She got a few outfits and stuffed them into a bag. She checked if her keys and whip were in place and headed toward the train station hoping to catch the train that was going to leave soon. She relaxed when she settled in a compartment while the workers were doing their routine to get the train ready to depart.

Halfway to her destination she could've sworn someone was watching her. She scanned the compartment once more but there was nothing out of the ordinary. She sighed and called out Plue to keep her company. She kept Plue on her lap for a while until he jumped down and twirled around the compartment. Plue caught something in the corner of his eye.

"Pun-pun?" He shook and towards the thing.

"Is there something wrong Plue?" Lucy asked.

"Pun-Puun!" Plue pointed to a particular corner. Lucy came over and picked Plue up and went to the direction he was pointing to.

* * *

Right now, the thing in the direction was freaking out. He has to strengthen his stealth as it seems and the motion sickness wasn't helping either. The person was just about to disappear into the shadows when Lucy was right in front of him.

"I don't see anything Plue. It's just a very dark corner. But then I can see the other corners clearly," something clicked in her mind. She reached out to see if she can grasp anything.

* * *

Ok. Now he was really freaking out so he just traveled into a crack he found and immediately slipped out of the compartment and eventually the train in the state of a black fuzzy blob figure thing. Too bad his motion sickness kept him from having a smooth landing and he rolled around for a while before his body hit against a large rock. He laid there and looked up at the fluffy clouds before getting up and going back to the guild.

* * *

Back in the compartment, Lucy couldn't believe her eyes. A shadow doesn't just disappear like that right? She shuddered and went back to her seat holding Plue firmly in her grasp. She scanned the apartment once more and once again saw nothing out of the ordinary. She relaxed a little and set Plue on her lap again.

"Pun-pun?" Plue looked up to his summoner but she was too deep in thought to notice. She looked out the window and Plue plopped up to look outside too. They were almost there.

* * *

A total of 5 vulcans. That's how much she has to take down. Right now she's trying to get pumped up with confidence but her doubts were overpowering them.

"I will make it out alive," she said to herself over and over again. Tension was building inside of her and she was jumping at every little sound. She found a stream close by and went toward it to splash some water on her face trying to relax a little. She took a deep breathe and turned around sharply when she heard some foot steps coming her way. A green forest vulcan emerged from the trees. Lucy had quickly found a rock to hide behind. Her hand feeling her keys. The vulcan turned its head her way and she frantically summoned out Taurus.

"Moooooooo! As always you've got a nice body Lucy-san!" Taurus turned around to gawk at her.

"Get it!" Lucy pointed to the vulcan.

"Moooooooooo! Anything for Nice Body!" Taurus jumped toward it twirling his ax around. He smashed the ax on the Vulcan but it caught it. Lucy sent little spurts of magic energy into Taurus' key as she supported him from behind. Taurus grunted and jumped back to Lucy's side.

"Let's try this together, Taurus," Lucy said getting her whip and looping Taurus' key in the ring.

"Ok, Lucy-san."

They both charged forward. Lucy wrapped her whip around one of the Vulcan's arms and pulled it forward. Taurus, taking advantage of the Vulcan trying to free itself, jumped up and swung his ax on the Vulcan's head effectively killing it.

"Thanks Taurus," Lucy panted.

"Does Nice Body need help dragging this back?" Taurus asked.

"No thanks," Lucy said pulling out a net. This magical net wraps around anything and shrinks it so the net and its contents can fit in someone's pocket. "The people who sent the request gave this to me. I need to put all 5 Vulcans in here and then return it to them." Taurus disappeared into the Spirit Realm and Lucy fell to her knees panting. She crawled to the rock from before and leaned against it. She chuckled. She really was weak.

**Any ideas on how Lucy and Rogue will start talking? How do you like the pace this story is going? Anything you don't like?**


	3. Chapter 3

Okay. Maybe sleeping outside. In the forest. In the open. With just a rock to hide her wasn't a good idea. In the same spot she was in before, she peeked out from the rock to see two Vulcans in the clearing. She wondered how she was going to get out of this one. In the last battle, it took her nearly all her energy to take down ONE Vulcan. A full moon was high in the air emitting a mysterious glow while streams of clouds passed by it. She took a deep breath. She had to take a chance. Running to the stream, she stuck a key in the water and summoned Aquarius. She appeared holding out a vase.

"What are you doing summoning me in the middle of a date? You wanna go punk? Huh?" Aquarius scowled.

"Can you just take care of those?" Lucy snapped and pointed to the two Vulcans looking their way.

"Tsk. I'll have you all drowning in less than a second," she rose her vase and water came shooting out as it flooded the whole clearing. The water rose above the Vulcans' head. When the wave died down, the Vulcans plus Lucy were sprawled out on the ground.

"Ugh," she looked over to the unconscious Vulcans and was about to trap them in the net when one of them got up again and charged towards her. She let out a shriek and jumped to the side. The Vulcan raised its fist but Lucy saw and hurriedly jumped out of the way before it pounded the ground. Lucy shakily stood up and prepared her whip. She has to get this done. Being in that guild has made her determined to hurry up and get to everyone's level. If she doesn't, then what will they think of her?

'Daddy's little girl.'

'You can't do that.'

'No Lucy! That's dangerous.'

'Why the hell would you want to learn magic? Go study. You are the heir to the Heartfilia Konzern. At least learn how to run a business!'

She grit her teeth. She'll show them. She won't let them tell her what she should do! She charged forward releasing a battle cry and in a moment, an image of her cold father flashed in front of her. She swung her whip forward and caught its arm. She ran around the Vulcan and tied it up. Gathering her remaining energy, she then pointed Taurus' key at the tied up the Vulcan.

"Please! Taurus!"

"Mooooooooooo! Nice body!" Taurus popped out and rushed toward the Vulcan giving it a deadly blow. Then just for the heck of it, also killed the one that was unconscious. Taurus returned back to the Celestial World when Lucy's magical energy gave out. Panting, she quickly threw the net over them and watched as the net shrunk with 3 Vulcans inside it then pocketed it. After that she passed out from exhaustion.

* * *

She awoke to...sounds of bickering...and the smell of fish. She groaned and got up, catching the attention of the source of the noise.

"Good morning," a girl with scarlet red hair spoke.

"Morning," Lucy yawned and looked at her surroundings finding a blue cat, the scarlet hair girl, a pink haired guy, and a shirtless guy. She processed her situation and bluntly spoke.

"Who are you?"

"WE ARE FAIRY TAIL MAGES!" the pink haired one cheered.

"I'm Erza. This is Gray, Happy, and Natsu," Erza introduced and held out a hand. "Nice to meet you."

"I'm Lucy. The pleasure is mine," Lucy smiled and shook her hand.

"You're in Sabertooth?" Gray asked noticing her mark.

"Yeah. I just recently joined. I'm out on a mission," Lucy stated.

"Is the mission difficult? We found you passed out by the stream," Erza said.

"Well...I'm not exactly strong," Lucy awkwardly laughed.

"Hm?" All four of them gathered around the Celestial mage.

"That's strange," Erza pondered.

"From what we've heard, Sabertooth is all about being strong. I doubt that would let anyone in who isn't," Gray added.

"Aye!" Happy chimed. "Their known for being brutal and strong. They are Fiore's #1 guild."

"Hehh? And did you just talk?" Lucy turned to the cat.

"Ehehehhehe and we're Saber's rival!" Natsu punched his fist into his other hand and lit it up. A creepy look on his face.

"Don't say it with that face!" Lucy screamed and backed away.

"Wait! Natsu! She says she's not strong," Erza held Natsu by the collar,"so it's a mystery why she's in Sabertooth."

"Maybe she's just degrading herself," Gray shrugged. The rest nodded while Lucy just sat there sweat dropping. Then her stomach growled. She blushed and looked away embarrassed.

"Excuse me," she mumbled.

"No problem! We didn't eat yet either! Let's go!" Natsu and Gray started stuffing their mouths.

"DON'T EAT IT ALL! LEAVE SOME FOR OUR GUEST!" Erza roared and the the boys immediately obeyed. While they ate, with the boy's fighting as background noise, Lucy turned to Erza.

"So what are you guys in this forest for?"

"We just finished a mission and are on out way back to guild. We didn't take the train because those two idiot's fighting went down a hill into this forest so we missed the train. With us ending up in a forest, we decided to just walk back. The town isn't far from here anyways," Erza explained.

"So you just recently joined Sabertooth?"

"Y-yes," Lucy sighed and Erza rose an eyebrow. "Well, I was forced there by my father. He probably paid the Master or something." Lucy looked down at her food. Natsu suddenly looked up and sniffed the air, then he pounced into the bushes where a grunt was heard.

"Natsu!" Erza yelled.

"Why you! Backing out on the fight huh?" Gray ranted.

"Shut up Gray!" Natsu dragged out Sting and Rogue from the bushes.

"Sting-san! Rogue-san!" Lucy said surprised. "Why are you in this forest? And why are you holding a sword at them!?" Lucy looked at Erza who was holding a sword at their necks.

"They cannot be trusted!" Erza glared at them.

"Chill Titania," Sting spoke with his hands up. "We're not going to do anything. Rogue just wanted to see what was taking Heartfilia so long." He gestured to Rogue who was looking down at the moment.

"Eh? So long? It's only been a day!" Lucy exclaimed.

"Heartfilia?" the Fairy Tail mages tilted their head.

"Well, people who take these request are usually done by the end of the day," Sting stated. Lucy face-palmed.

"Well, sorry if I'm not those people!" Lucy snapped. She sighed. "You guys can go back. I'll be fine. I don't even know why you guys wanted to check up on me."

"Sting-kun!" Lector crashed into Sting crying. "How could you leave us with her! She was really mad that time!"

"Rogue!" Frosch cried into Rogue the same way.

"Ehehehehe. We kinda pissed of Minerva too," Sting awkwardly laughed. "So we won't be going back anytime soon. How many Vulcans have you got so far?"

"3," Lucy mumbled.

"Well, we'll help you get the rest right Rogue?"

"Yes," Rogue said.

"Stay here, we'll be right back, Heartfilia," Sting said nonchalantly as they went off to get the Vulcans.

"Hey! It's my mission!" Lucy yelled then sighed. Those guys.

"HEARTFILIA!" the Fairy Tail mages exclaimed in realization.

"W-w-we are sorry for being so informal, miss," Erza stuttered and knelt on one knee bowing down. Natsu, Happy, and Gray were still frozen in the background.

"Uh..it's fine. Please treat me as a fellow mage. I wish to a part of the normal world without fancy dresses and a big house," Lucy sweat dropped and held out a hand to help her up.

"A-as you wish, Lucy," Erza took her hand and got up.

"Much better," Lucy smiled.

* * *

Since then, Lucy and the Fairy Tail mages sat in a circle and got to know each other better. Lucy told them about her life in the mansion and they told her what it was like to be a normal everyday mage. Lucy was fascinated by the idea of doing whatever you want. Even as a Sabertooth member without any guards and maids around, she still felt like she had chains around her restraining her from actual freedom.

Sting and Rogue came back half an hour later with the two Vulcans. Lucy encased them in the net and pocketed it and left with the Saber mages while the Fairy Tail mages went the other way.

"See ya, Lucy!"

"See you soon! Fairy Tail!" Lucy waved them off.

"Sting, Rogue! Better take care of her!" Erza shouted back at the Dragon Slayer Duo.

"Yea, yea. We'll see ya, Fairy Tail, Natsu-san!" Sting called out and they went to the client's house to return the net with the Vulcans in it and get the pay.

**I think I'm losing my touch on this story. Nah...I never had much. xD So Fairy Tail appears. I have no idea why I got them to show up. Any ideas for future chapters?**


	4. Chapter 4

"You guys get motion sickness?!" Lucy laughed. They were on their way back to the guild on the train.

"S-s-shut up!" Sting gagged.

"Y-Yeah! Sting-kun is awesome! You can't laugh at awesomeness!" Lector boasted. Lucy stopped for a while to listen to the Exceed's statement and burst out laughing again holding her sides.

"Stop it, Lucy-san! Rogue isn't feeling well!" Fro cried with pleading eyes. Tears tore at Lucy's eyes.

"Wahhh! You're so adorable. I'll stop for you," Lucy hugged Fro and petted him. Lector, not wanting to get left out, flew over to Lucy where she hugged and started to pet them both. Rogue stared at Lucy from the corner of his eye. The Exceeds laying sleepily on her lap, Lucy looked around the room and met his gaze. They stayed like that for a while before Rogue abruptly looked away. That snapped Lucy out of her trance and she looked out the window, thinking about Shadow.

* * *

Several days later, Lucy was on her way to the guild and she passed the park as usual. From the corner of her eye, she saw Rogue and Frosch. Rogue was sitting against a tree and Frosch was twirling around and picking flowers and putting them on the Dragon Slayer. Lucy called Plue out and went over to them.

Rogue opened his eyes when he sensed them coming.

"Hey Rogue-san," Lucy greeted.

"Hi," Rogue responded. Lucy sat down next to him and watched Plue and Fro playing together. Lucy sat there awkwardly and started picking the grass. Rogue closed his eyes only to open one of them to watch Lucy pick at the grass. Frosch and Plue came over to them holding a flower each, drawing their attention. Fro flew up and put the flower in Rogue's hair while Plue set the flower on her lap. Lucy looked over to Rogue and giggled.

"What?" Rogue asked, a faint smile on his face. Lucy giggled again and lifted her flower into her hair. Lucy thought of something and went over to the field of flowers right in front of them while Rogue raised an eyebrow. She picked some while Plue and Fro came over and joined her. Rogue shrugged it off and closed his eyes to relax. The scent of flowers drew closer and closer. He could hear Lucy giggling. When he opened them, flowers surrounded Rogue and there was some in his hair. There were several flowers on his attire too.

"Rogue is pretty!" Fro sat on his lap while Lucy giggled.

"Pun-puuun!" Rogue sat there looking aghast. He turned into his shadow form and disappeared leaving the three stunned until...flowers floated down from the sky onto them surrounding them with their scent and colors. They watched amazed.

"How pretty!" Lucy put out a hand for a delicate flower to land on it. It was the same one Plue and Fro got for them.

"Fro thinks so too!"

"Puuun-puuun!" Rogue reappeared from the ground and looked up to watch with them, a small smile on his face. A black shadow was overhead dropping the flowers on them. It was like a black canvas with different colors carefully splashed around. The last of the flowers dropped and the shadow dispersed revealing the cloudless sky. Lucy turned to Rogue.

"That was beautiful Rogue!"

"Fro thinks so too!" Fro flew into his chest.

"Puun-puuuun!" Lucy picked up Plue. Rogue chuckled.

"You going to the guild today?" Rogue asked with a small smile.

"Sure!" Lucy walked next to him carrying Plue. Frosch walking with them as they all headed to the guild.

* * *

They pushed open the doors to the guild. Lucy went to the bar while Rogue made his way to Sting. Lucy ordered a strawberry shake and a lollipop as she set Plue on the counter in front of her.

"Pffftttt,"Sting tried not to laugh out loud.

"What?" Rogue twitched an eyebrow.

"You have a flower in your hair, Rogue-kun!" Lector and Sting burst into laughter.

At the bar, Plue was sucking on his lollipop while Lucy was sipping her smoothie. Claire came over and sat next to Lucy.

"That's a nice flower," Claire stated as she got her beer.

"Thanks Claire-san," Lucy smiled. Ever since she came, she hasn't interacted with many people. Everyone was quiet here. It's a wonder why she has been coming in everyday.

"This place is pretty calm huh?" Lucy tried to start conversation.

"Yeah, I guess," Claire said. "People who come to this guild are rarely talkers. It's always about strength and power here." This place wasn't any different from home.

"Well, I'm going off to a mission," Claire finished her drink and got up. "This place is a little too quiet for my taste at times. See ya, Lucy-san."

Lucy sighed. She took the flower from her hair. She smiled softly at it.

"Pun-puun!" She giggled softly to him.

"It's pretty, huh, Plue?" she asked.

"Pu-puun!" Plue agreed enthusiastically. Lucy swirled around and glanced around the guild. It was quiet. Murmurs hear and there from people conversing at the tables. Sting, Rogue, and the Exceeds were all gathered together at one table. Minerva was no where to be seen on the first floor so she could be upstairs or not in the guild at all. She sighed and leaned her head on her arms as she settled them on the countertop.

"Plue, if you're bored, you could go back," Plue shook his head and continued sucking on his lollipop.

"If you're bored, why don't you go on a mission?" the barmaid suggested.

"I never got your name. I'm Lucy. Sorry for being rude," Lucy said. The barmaid gently smiled and shook her head.

"My name's Lily," Lily said. "I'm sorry for not introducing myself."

"It's fine. I'm going to look for a mission now. Is it always like this here? When I joined, I thought it would be...uh...lively."

She nodded. "It's usually like this. It does get boring after some time though but after a while, you get to appreciate how calm it is."

"Really? I'll keep that in mind. Bye, Lily-san," Lucy paid for her order and went over to the board looking for a reason to escape yet again.

**Any ideas for future chapter? How'd you like this chapter? Reviews are greatly appreciated, thank you very much. :) Any OC's in mind?**


End file.
